Spinal cord injury aftercare

Home support for people living with spinal cord injury

For almost 30 years, we’ve been enabling people with spinal cord injuries to live independently from the comfort of their own homes. With Helping Hands you have complete control over the care you receive, with either live-in or visiting support from a carer who fits with your lifestyle.

Our expertly trained carers are experienced in providing spinal domiciliary care for people affected by a variety of injuries, including quadriplegia, paraplegia and tetraplegia. With the expertise of our registered nurses from our clinical care team, we’re supporting thousands of people with one-to-one care in the home.

When you choose Helping Hands, you can rest assured you’re receiving the best quality spinal cord injury care. All of our carers are given our award-winning training at our Centre of Excellence in Warwickshire. They’re also given extra training and support from our clinical experts, ensuring they have the right level of skills and experience to support you.

What’s more, with autonomic dysreflexia on many of our customers’ minds, our carers are trained to look out for the tell-tale signs of an imminent attack and how to take steps to manage it.

Call us today to find out how we can support you at home and help you to live the life you want.

Going from being so independent to relying on someone… was difficult. Helping Hands came out to me, and I was able to return home with support from one of their live-in carers… read more

Simon, a live-in care customer

Providing spinal injury care in the home

In the majority of cases our customers have varying degrees of cervical or thoracic spinal cord injuries, which means that a care plan for one person is unlikely to suit another’s requirements. That’s why, as with all types of care with Helping Hands, we offer complete flexibility over your home care options, letting you choose the level of support you receive.

By choosing home care, there’s no need to change your existing routines or lifestyle. Your handpicked carer will work around you to provide bespoke spinal cord injury care. For example, this could be a regular physio-led exercise plan to help with muscular spasms, and timely administration of oral medication or baclofen pumps.

We take a warm approach when providing spinal injury home care, building up strong relationships with customers and their families. Our clinical nurses also work alongside organisations such as the Spinal Injuries Association (SIA), the National Back Exchange and spinal cord injury peer support groups so we can develop an even greater understanding of our customers’ spinal injury care requirements.

Speak to one of our care specialists today about how we can support you or your loved one at home.

Ongoing companionship, whether it’s a chat over a cup of tea or joining you on day-trips or even holidays

Our spinal injury trained carers take great pride in their roles and are dedicated to the individuals and families they are supporting.

As well as being there for the practical day-to-day things, a Helping Hands carer is also there to offer companionship and ongoing emotional support. In fact, many of them become more like friends to the people they assist.

Elis's story: specialist training for spinal cord injury care

Live-in carer, Elis, was chosen as the best match for supporting one of our customers, a lady with a spinal cord injury – level C4/C5 quadriplegia. The lady was also prone to periods of autonomic dysreflexia, a potentially life-threatening medical emergency that results in a dangerous increase in blood pressure.

It was especially important to match the customer with a carer who could fully respond to her individual needs. Working with her clinical nurse specialist, the customer handpicked Elis, noticing that she had similar interests and tastes to her own.

After receiving specialist training in stoma and urostomy care for both bowel and bladder management and other specific training and support for the lady’s specific condition, Elis supported her on a live-in basis for 18 months.

Elis shared her experience about helping someone to maintain their independence after a spinal injury. She said, “I think that one of the main challenges faced by those living with spinal cord injuries is social exclusion. I think that it is important to help people maintain the roles that they previously held before their injury and to adopt new roles in society.”

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We’re here seven days a week to talk through your home care needs and find the best option for you. Call 03300376958 or request a callback and we will call you.